Reba McEntire is one of the great voices of country music. Her crossover appeal can't separate her magnetic personality from the sonic impact of her ballads and rhythmic lyricism. The most recent of her three GRAMMY wins was at the 60th GRAMMY Awards earlier this year, in the category Best Roots Gospel Album for Sing It Now: Songs Of Faith & Hope. Both Cher and McEntire have moved millions with their music as songwriters as well.

Influential and admired classical composer Philip Glass was already well established by 1985 when his album Satyagraha was nominated for Best Contemporary Composition at the 28th GRAMMY Awards. His piece "I Knew Her" from the 2007 movie Notes On A Scandal was nominated at the 50th GRAMMY Awards for Best Instrumental Composition. He has received four GRAMMY nominations to date.

May 15, 2017 – 1:50 am

'Hamilton' wins Best Musical Theater Album

"Hamilton" enjoys special status at the Kennedy Center because it has been celebrating a "Summer of 'Hamilton'" with multiple events. In a first, this year it receives unique recognition as a creative work. Multiple GRAMMY winners Alex Lacamoire and Lin-Manuel Miranda will receive the special honor as well as the now-iconic Broadway show's choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and director Thomas Kail.

"The world looks to America for its creative instincts and artistic courage," said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. "This year's slate of honorees represents the pinnacle of our nation's originality and the rich mosaic of diverse perspectives and art forms that has come to define who we are as a people."

ABBA Hit Finds Remixed Life In Cher Cover's Mashup With Madonna

On Aug. 9 fans who pre-ordered Cher's anticipated album of ABBA covers, due to be released on Sept. 28, received access to her cover of the band's 1979 classic "Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)." Now that it's out there in the wild, a musical mashup with Madonna's 2005 "Hung Up" has listeners admiring the combination of the GRAMMY-winning divas as an inevitable treat to be enjoyed while they impatiently wait for Sept. 28.

"Hung Up" was the first track of Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor, sampling "Gimme! Gimme! …" which started humbly as a B-side to a single released from ABBA's 1979 album Voulez-Vous and then grew into an international hit.

In the 2008 movie Mamma Mia!, Amanda Seyfried memorably performed "Gimme! Gimme! …" as a solo. Cher's upcoming album is emerging from fans' excitement surrounding this summer's sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, in which Cher plays the supporting role of Ruby Sheridan. Kudos to Alex Simpson for having performed the delicate sonic surgery that has a growing audience of listeners convinced this was fate.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Delivers Latest Hamildrop With "First Burn"

Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton" is truly the Broadway show that keeps on giving. After opening in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre last August and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 last month with "Found/Tonight" featuring Ben Platt, Miranda is back with this month's #Hamildrop, "Slow Burn,​" a first draft of the "Hamilton" track "Burn."

"Slow Burn" features five stellar vocalists who have all played the role of Eliza in "Hamilton" across the U.S. and U.K., Arianna Afsar, Julia Harriman, Lexi Lawson, Rachelle Ann Go and Shoba Narayan.

In addition to the five singers, there is no shortage of talent behind the production and arrangement of "First Burn." The song was produced by GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer Mike Elizondo and arranged by the show's GRAMMY- and Tony-winning orchestrator and musical director, Alex Lacamoire.

May 15, 2017 – 1:50 am

'Hamilton' wins Best Musical Theater Album

Miranda's Hamilton won the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album at the 58th GRAMMY Awards, and Miranda picked up his second career win for Best Song Written For Visual Media for "How Far I'll Go" from Moana: The Songs earlier this year at the 60th GRAMMY Awards.

"Hamilton" is currently playing on Broadway in New York City and running in London and Chicago, as well as on tour across the U.S. Visit the show's website for a full list of dates.

Cher Adds More 2019 Performance Dates In North America

Cher's Here We Go Again Tour has added 14 new North American stops in November and December of 2019. This year is keeping the GRAMMY-winning diva busy as she finishes one of her residency series at MGM Resorts' Park Theater in Las Vegas tonight and tomorrow night.

Touring with special guests Nile Rodgers and Chic, Cher's first of the new dates is Nov. 19 in Portland, Ore. with performances in Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Toronto through the end of the month. Next stop is Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 3, then heading south through Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. The beat goes on in mid-December at Houston and San Antonio, followed by the last of the new dates in Dallas, Texas on Dec. 19 at the American Airlines Center.

If that sounds like a busy itinerary, glance at what Cher has going on before then. Beginning Apr. 18 in Pittsburgh, Penn., she'll be completing previously announced dates in North America and Canada through the end of May. In August, Cher returns to Park Theater in Las Vegas for another round of performances. Then from late September through early November she'll be visiting European capitals including multiple concerts in Germany and the UK including at London's O2 arena on Oct. 20 and 21.

After three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles in the early 70's, as a solo artist, in 1999 Cher's "Believe" went to No. 1 again and won Best Dance Recording at the 42nd GRAMMY Awards. Both 2013's Closer To The Truth and 2018's Dancing Queen reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album charts, Cher's career high to date.

Tickets for Cher's Nov. and Dec. performances go on sale on April 5 to the general public at Live Nation's website, with pre-sales opening on April 2.

The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast from the MGM Grand at Las Vegas on April 7, 2019 on CBS. Tickets are still available at AXS.

In addition to the ACM Awards main event, many exciting Party For A Cause concerts are also planned for that weekend in Vegas, including the ACM Stories, Songs & Stars panel with its focus on country songwriters, the ACM Decades concert and the ACM Lifting Lives Topgolf Tee-Off, raising funds and awareness for ACM Lifting Lives' charitable activities.

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